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What if DreamWorks Pictures/DreamWorks Animation was founded in 1934?/The Adventures of the Smurfs
The Adventures of the Smurfs is an American-French-Belgian flash animated fantasy comedy television series, being based on the homonymous franchise created by Peyo, being developed by Theirry & Veronique Culliford and Kelly Asbury. It is produced by DreamWorks Television Animation and Studio Peyo, premiering on September 12, 2021. TBD Plot The Smurfs The Smurfs are little blue creatures that live in mushroom houses in a forest inhabited mainly by their own kind. The Smurfs' average daily routine is attempting to avoid Gargamel, an evil yet dimwitted and annoying sorcerer who plans to capture the Smurfs to steal all of their essence and become the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Johan and Peewit Set in the Middle Ages in an unnamed European kingdom, the series follows the adventures of Johan, a brave young page to the King, and Peewit, his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick. Johan rides off in search of adventure with his trusty horse Bayard, while Peewit gallops sporadically, and grudgingly, behind on his goat, Biquette. The pair are driven by duty to their King and the courage to defend the underpowered. Struggles for power between deposed lords and usurping villains form the basis of many of the plots which also contain elements of detective fiction as the pair hunt down traitors and outlaws, as well as witches, sorcerers, giants and ghosts. Cast Episodes Most episodes are three 7-minute segments (in the tradition of classic cartoon shorts from the Golden Age of Animation). Season 1 (2021) This season consists of 13 episodes. Season 2 (2022) This season consists of 13 episodes. Season 3 (2023) Reception The reboot received generally positive reviews among fans. It was mainly praised for being more true to the original Belgian comics, although some elements were borrowed from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon's first two seasons. The Johan and Peewit segments on the other hand, have mixed reception and are not nearly as successful as The Smurfs segments in America, but it is successful overseas in Europe. Trivia * Unlike both the original comics and the 1980s Saturday morning TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, both The Smurfs and Johan and Peewit segments are not connected at all, except for Gargamel (who is also Johan and Peewit's nemesis in this incarnation) appearing in both segments. However, the two segments' main characters could appear together in a one-hour special episode. * The show's new producers and directors are Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, with Ren and Stimpy animator Bob Camp also serving as director and storyboard artist. In season 2, Rob Renzetti took over as director for the Johan and Peewit segments, resulting in a change of humor. * Unlike the later episodes of the 1980s cartoon show (Seasons 3-9), the Smurflings, Baby Smurf, Grandpa Smurf, Nanny Smurf, Wild Smurf, Puppy and Smoogle are completely absent from the reboot altogether (saddening The Smurfs fans who love the characters, despite the ratings on NBC back in the 1980s). * The storylines and slapstick humor on this show has been updated to be more like the original Belgian comics, while being similar to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon's first two seasons. * Unlike the 1980s Saturday morning TV series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, this show is storyboard-driven rather than script-driven. * Both two segments have different director and writer units. ** Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone worked on The Smurfs segments, in a mix of the original Belgian comics, MGM's Tom and Jerry shorts-style humor and the Hanna-Barbera cartoon show. The only difference is that the humans' faces are shown, instead of just being seen from the neck down. ** Bob Camp worked on the Johan and Peewit segments, in a mix of the original Belgian comics and Cow and Chicken/''I Am Weasel''-style humor (minus the gross-outs). In season 2, Rob Renzetti and Alex Zamm took over and the segments are now in a mix of the original Belgian comics and Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Looney Tunes and Walter Lantz-style humor. * While The Smurfs segments focused more on the slapstick humor, morals and educational values, the Johan and Peewit segments focused more on the slapstick humor and action-packed adventures. * Gargamel appears with his comedic personality from the live-action/CGI duology and The Smurfs: The Lost Village. * Hank Azaria repises his role as Gargamel from the live-action/CGI duology. * Monty from The Smurfs: The Lost Village is added into the show. * The show is mostly animated at Rough Draft Korea. Also, like the 1980s cartoon, the show is also animated at Wang Film Productions in Taiwan. * All of the 22-minute television specials (and some episodes with the best storylines) were animated exclusively by Boomerang Animation in Australia and Bob Jaques handled the animation direction (allowing them to have a similar animation style to Carbunkle's work on The Baby Huey Show). Even Jaques and Kelly Armstrong participated in animating a few scenes each special. ** Boomerang's work on the show is more expensive than all of the other studios employed for the series. ** The animation done in Australia had subtle nuances and wild animation that could never be done with other overseas studios. * Former H-B animation artist, character designer, layout and background artist and storyboard director, Bob Singer came out of retirement to work on the character and background layouts for the series, while animator Dave Alvarez came in to give the character expressions more personality and depth in comparison to the 1980s cartoon, where they used limited animation.